Game and game apparatus



Jan. 9, 1945.

Fig.1

R. A. GORSUCH GAME AND GAME APPARATUS 7 Filed April 11, 1942 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENIOR. 61AM AfifiM ATTORNEYS Jan. 9, 1945. I I GORSUCHI 2,366,782

GAME AND- GAME APPARATUS Filed April 11, 1942 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR.

3% (ME y ATTORNEYS their use tocertain invention; onzthehother hand, is suited to any i position in which the. i target. member:

a "W e i d 9 hat-t em m n, 'aintoppbrtunityto dislodge it, as willhereinafter Patented Jan. 9, 1945 one i hpplicationhpriill, 19412;sriaiNoJ4eac2t 2 main retina-f tter) 4.. ,iThi s invention relates toigames and gamelapparatuawand moreiparticulatly to games of. the kindathatimay be: played upon lawns "or other suitable playingsurfacesn 3 The invention wasinspired by thezgamefl of shufile' board, although its only 1 similarity thereto is in theaction of the playersand the general a scheme .ofhscoringn h 4 y i The primary: purposexof. theszinventiontis to providea game tafiording 1 all the; recreational benefitsgof shuflie board andi possessing additionaltfeatures of'interest, without: requiring expensive cementtor other as -care essentialztoj the JgameJof shuiiie board.

Clement courtsv are; practical only climates having littlelorcnocfreezingweather,t and accordihgly games requiring ,sucmcour-ts areconfine'd in :iocalities. flh'e game of my locality vregardless of climate; and 'may lie played on any reasonably; good strip' .of lawn or other readily-availab1e.lplaying.surface about 10 feet (wide and136 feet long The playing surface-need rzn'ot absolutely level i but; isa satisfaotory if it v issuch as would beadapted to' croquetor roque;

forlexample.

I .Anothen objectflof thetinvention; is towprovide a goal-tmarker that especially! convenient of other playing surface and .lwhichoisxmadeiup ofispiecestof .ropeu'or the placement on .a lawn or 1ike,1,suitably ,connected together; by simple and inexpensive means, andin" suchimanne'r and ar rangement as to facilitate manufacture and handling.

Another object n1 tot include a; time brine sort ,to which the: invention, perta'insaa feature that enhances, the excitement and interest of the "game and! which consists in supporting, in a certainplace. with-respect to the goal, asyupon a seat within" and, desirably at the center \of the hard surface courts such ti'omxisistrong 'anddniable;andwhicn intimate plain-mates or bailean'u which is relatively simple fand inexpensivesof .construcooperate's with a ball mlsuch manner "as toreduce to (a minimum 'Ttne'friction between theimplement andbaIL-U l i .A still further-objects toiirovideianiimplespaceenclosed by the marginal goal iline a dis+ placeable. target memberwor, in more limited t rms-a freeobjectballawhich is aidapted tome disiodgedivfrom place or .seat by .ajlplay er and to assume a plus'or minus counting position Within ,the goal, thus increasing onldecreasin g thefplayeris score by a value according to the or object balLcomesl to: rest, said} member {or ball turndto its place or seat immediately after .said

more fuilyappearht. c .i h iurthery objectlof rny invention is 'to provide a" playing impl being" 115- to may have mnt orcue for propelling or 35 targetmem'ber or a seat; Fig. 3.:Ifisan so shaped or eoristriict oracanyin'gfja ball. it

The foregoing objects, with fathers" hereinafter appearing; iare attained infthe "embodiment "of the inventionfillustrated the accompanying drawingsz-wherein Fig. iffis a "diagram showing the general character and relation entire-goal markers, with thedisplaceable tar'gt members" for the target. member or object baI1; "Fig. 4 1 is abperspective. view of the implement'on one for propelling: ortshootin'g the'playing members'or ballsthe view showing. the implement "applied to ball in; readiness for shooting; "Fig; 5- is a bottom Plant/1cm or theyhead portion of the implement on cue, the, ball being indicated inbroken lines in thisaand the succeeding s; a :pentral longitudinal section head portion; Fig.7 is'a sectional V line IQ-J of Fig. 6 E'ig. 8 is a, viwbf thesheet view;"*Fig. 6 through said metal blank fromwhich the body portion 'of the head is constructed, and Figs. and loare Views illustrating .how theimplement orcue' may be emp o ed for and for; carrying a it ball, respectively;

3 The game, in its ,present? preferred formfim eludes two. goal markers, each; about '4'. square that are adapted; to be" arranged 'ujpona "lawn or othfil silitalole playing surface about 21 apart, ajind cat in Fig.1. a i

;Each; goal1.marker is"designated igeherally'by v thereferencenumeral Ll, anditis desirablytonjstructedin most? part of rope about'the'size of that grd nar n d for clothes lines.

ed 'tlfat'itmayfbeime p yed withffacility torretrieving, maneuvering one 'of the goal markers as enlarged detailof'the central portion l of; th'eigoal marker includingl the seat 'detailion the retrieving or maneuvering aball,

. or stripes made upon the playing surface. The linear elements of the goal marker will herein be referred to as lines. Each goal marker includes a marginal line 2 which, when straightened out in the position it occupies when the device is in use, defines a square. Extending inwardly from the corners toward the center of said square are diagonal lines 3. In the present construction, two linear elements make up the four diagonal lines and one end of each of said elements is connected to the marginal line at one of the corners of the square, in a manner hereinafter to be described, and is carried toward the opposite diagonal corner until it closely approaches the center of the square, when it is diate the aforesaid diagonal corners.

the center of the square shown in Figs. 2 and 3, and which are desirably made of lengths of wire having their ends hooked over and. pinched about said linear elements. These links, with the portions of the elements that extend between them, form the seat for the target member or object ball, as will hereinafter appear. This makes a cheap and highly satis factory construction although equivalent arrangements and constructions are embraced within the scope of my invention.

At each corner of the square defined by the marginal line 2, parts of said line, with the outer end of the adjacent diagonal line 3 are gathered together and securely fastened by suitable mean 5 which desirably consists of a stiff wire clamping ring or winding. The portions of the line 2 outwardly beyond the fastening means 5 form loopsfi. Staples l are adapted to be engaged for holding the goal marker firmly in place. An intermediate line 8 intersects the diagonal lines 3 and the parts thereof between adjacentdiagof the marginal line.- In playing the game, two sets of playing members or balls are used. Each set preferably consists of three playing members or balls, and those of one set are suitably distinguished from the playing members or balls of the other set,'as by being of a different color. Said members or respectively, and are indicated as being colored red and blue. They are shown in Fig. l in their desired shooting positions in readiness, for example; for the first play of a game, although they and then the other for the succeeding plays. In describing the manner in which the game is played, it will be assumed that four persons are participating. referred to as players A, B, C and D. Their playing positions are indicated by the location of said letters in Fig. 1 and the players A and B are partners, as are the players C and D.

, Occupyingthe beforementioned place or seat able target member or object ball l2 that is suit a'bly distinguished by color or otherwise from the oticintent, they are preferably white, since the playing members are red and blue. By means of theimplement or cue presently to be described, the player A'shoots one of the playing members or balls l0 toward the distant goal and desirably at the targetmember or object ball l2 associated therewith. The space enclosed by the marginal onal lines are parallel to the corresponding parts,

are similarly arranged adjacent first one goal For convenience, they may be at the center of each goal marker is a displace playing members or balls. 'To carry out a patriturned laterally and back to a corner interme- These two" linear elements are connected together at about by parallel links 4,

through the loops 6 and driven into the ground I amount determined by balls of the two sets are designated H! and H, .50

line 2 of each goal marker is divided into sections by the diagonal lines 3 and intermediate line 8, and the scoring values of said sections are indicated by the numerals shown in dotted lines in Fig. l. The players A and C take turns shooting until'all members or balls 10 and H of the two setshave been shot at the opposite or distant goal. If during the shooting-the target member or object ball [2 is displaced from its seat and lodges within'the limits of the goal, an the plus or minus scoring value of the space in which the member or ball comes to rest is noted for .addition to or subtraction from the score of the player responsible for'dislodging said member or ball. Immediately after noting said amount, the member or ball is returned to its place or seat so as to give the trated in Fig. 2, it being assumed that the balls approached the goal marker in the direction. of the arrow, and that the objectball-llwasdislodged from its seat by the last ball shot, which might be the blue ball lying, nearest: the seat. By referring to the left hand goal of Fig. l, the scoring values of the various sections of the goal may be ascertained, as previously explained; The score, therefore,-according to the arrange ment of the balls in Fig, 2, is -10 for the reds that is, for partners A and B, who are using the red balls; and 15 for their opponents, the blues,-, or partners C" and D. a In estimating the score of the blues, the 10 gained bythe dislodgment of 'the object ball l2 into the rear adjacent 10 space is cancelled by the blue ball that lodged in the lO-Off space. The present frame is completed when'players'B and D, taking'tur'ns, return the playing members or balls of their respective sets tov the goal at the leftof Fig.1; In the second frame, the blues shoot first-,- in the third frame, the reds, and so onuntil the game is completed. The side first scoring points (or more) at the end of any half-frame wins the game. In the case of a tie, extra nauframes are played until the tie is broken. When two pe'rsons'playthe game, the two'players shoot alternately from the first goal to the second, and then from the second back to the first, and so onl The objects of each player are: to stop each ball he shoots in the most favorable scoring position; to drive his opponents ball out of scoring position-that is, beyond the marginal line of the go'al,'or into the lo-Off space; and to dislodge the target member'or ball from its seat and cause'it 'to assume a position'in'which it will add the maximum amount to his score. In gen-i eral, it is well to'aim at the target' member" or object ball and try to hit it just hard "enough to topple it from its place or seat into an adja-f cent "10 section. f

' Theirnplement or one used for propelling-the playing members or balls along the playing face, as well as for retrieving, maneuvering and carrying the ball, is illustrated in Figs. 5 tofl0. It comprises a handle 20, desirably made of wood;

positions of said playshown in Fig. 4.

When it is desired to shoot a playing member anti-friction element or roller 24. The body portion 22 is formed from the blank. of sheet metal illustrated in "Fig. 8, where said blank is desig nated 22 .The yoke 23 is preferably made of and a head designatedgenerally by the reference numeral 2!. The head is made upof a body portion 22 and a yoke 23, and incorporates an heavy, stiff wire and is generally U-shaped, and

the rear end portions of its lateral branches are turned inwardly. and u pwardly at aslight angle to the forwardparallel portions thereof and are snugly held within sleeves provided by the curled over edges of the body portion 22 that are formed from the parts 22 of the blank 22. The end portions of an axle 25 by which the anti-fricpart of the body portion 22 is inserted, the kerf being deep enough to allow the body to. enter untila lug 21 engages the front end of the handle,

22. A screw or other fastening means 28 is then driven into the handle and through'an aperture in the body portion 22. .Thisaperture may be preformed or not, asdesiredJts position being indicated at 22 on the blank 22" of Fig. 8. A.

simple but very effective connection between the head and handle is thus formed, the handle, at the rear of the head, being confined. between the or roller 24 is preferably of the ball-bearing type and rotates very freely, wherefore friction is reduced to a minimum. This end is further served by the fact that onlya very slight portion of each lateral branch of. the yoke engages the ball at any time, and then quite near the rotating axis of the latter. In taking a shooting position, the player stands with his arm hanging at hi side 1 and, if right handed, comfortably grips the rear end portion of the handle 20 in his right hand,

and engages the head of the implement with the ball, as illustrated in Fig. 4. Th player then the player reaches the end of the stroke, the im- 1 steps forward, leading with his left foot, and

swings his right arm as he steps forward with a long even stroke. Obviously, a left handed player reverses the above described position. As

plement is lifted from the ball, such action being enhanced by the tendency of the roller 24 to ride up the ballas the stroke is concluded.

In retrieving or maneuvering a ball, the implement may be turned over and used in the mansaid lug being formed by a part 22 of the blank lar space, diagonal lines extending from the corners to approximately the center of said space,- the ;marginal line adjacent thereto being fastened ends of the sleeves that embrace the rearwardly I converging parts of the yoke 23, while it is other- 1 Wise held in fixed relationto the handle by the fastening means 28 and the lug 21. The forward end of the yoke 23 is arched upwardly and over nor shown in Fig. 9; and a ball may be flipped or rolled onto, and carried by the implement, as illus- 25 trated in Fig. 10. i

, Having thus described'my invention, what I claim is:

1. A goal marker constructed of flexible linear elements including a marginal line which, when laid out in operative position, encloses a rectanguouter end of each diagonal line, and parts of the together. in such manner as to provide loops outwardly beyond the junction of the marginal and diagonallines. i

2. A goal inarker constructed of flexibl linear elements including a marginal line which, when laid out inoperative position, encloses a rectangul lar space, diagonal lines extending from the corbetweenthe lateral branches thereof, as best or ball, such as that designated ID in Figs. 4 to 6,

9 and 10,.the yoke is droppedover the ball until its lateral branches rest upon-the ball slightly above the center thereof. The anti-friction element or roller 24 engages the rear side of the ballin about theplane of the yoke (Fig. 6) and spins as the ball is propelled along the playing 0 surface by means of the implement. The element ing the diagonal lines and having the parts thereof between the diagonal lines approximately parallel to the sides of said space.

ROBERT A. GORSUCH. 

